Derek Hall and Miguel Burger-Calderon weren't born in Latin America but saw just how many opportunities the region has. They went from founders to angel investors in the US and LatAm, putting money into companies such as Clara, Cobli, and Nowports.Now, Derek and Miguel are venture capital investors for LatAm. At BFF, which is not "best friends forever" but "by founders for founders", they look for startups that can impact the 99%.In this episode, Derek, Miguel, and I talk about:- How Derek and Miguel got to know LatAm;- Their thesis as angel investors and now as VCs at BFF;- The advice Derek and Miguel have shared the most with startup founders in the past decade, and the advice they're sharing the most right now.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

We've been hearing startup founders all over LatAm for a while now. And we noticed a common reflection from those on a fundraising journey: how a simple and clean investment template could take much of the friction away.That's why we partnered up with law offices such as Gunderson Dettmer to launch MISTO in Brazil. MISTO is a document with optimized terms for investing, with language and practices understood and accepted by both founders and investors.Christel Moreno is a partner at Gunderson, leads their São Paulo office, and was deeply involved in the creation of MISTO. In this episode, Christel and I talk about:From a legal standpoint, how dealing with startups in LatAm is different from dealing with traditional companies around the world;What exactly is MISTO, and what makes it unique in comparison to other startup investment templates;Finally, the advice Christel would give startup founders with no legal experience.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Atlantico's back with its annual Latin America Digital Transformation Report. The study reflects on some of the forces transforming LatAm today, from the renewal of the entrepreneurial spirit in the region to the rise of artificial intelligence. We had early access to these findings here at Latitud, and decided to chat with Atlantico's Ana Martins and Julio Vasconcellos about the most impressive insights.In this episode, Ana, Julio, and I talk about:How LatAm founders are currently balancing excitement, optimism, and caution;How close we are to the end of the startup fundraising winter;Some trends to look out for in Latin America, from mobile to AI.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Parker Treacy voyaged down from the US to Brazil back in 2014 for two reasons. First, for the adventure. Second, and that's in his own words, for being irrationally convinced that he'd be successful. In the end, Parker stuck the landing. He took his experience in the auto industry to create Cobli, a startup that builds technology for fleet management. Now, Cobli has over 5 thousand clients and investors such as Fifth Wall, the IFC, and SoftBank.In this episode, Parker and I talked about:- How to balance curiosity and focus as a startup founder;- The story of how Parker landed in Brazil and co-founded Cobli;- How to balance founders' and investors' interests, and the importance of product-channel fit.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

From the Brazilian city of Recife, André Ferraz co-founded a startup out of a research project. That was In Loco Media, a company that used geopositioning technology for marketing. Eventually, the retail giant Magazine Luiza bought the startup.But years before that sale, André was already working for years on using that same technology to solve another huge problem: online security. His new company, Incognia, has gone on to raise a Series A and be present in 200 million devices worldwide.In this episode, André and I talk about:André's journey from a computer science researcher to a startup founder;Lessons on cap table management, pivoting, exiting, and fundraising;Incognia's creation and André's view on the future of artificial intelligence.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Sujay Tyle sold his used cars marketplace to Naspers back in 2019. He could have stopped there. But he decided to double down on a segment and a market that still had a lot to offer.Sujay co-founded Merama, a marketplace that invests in and partners with e-commerces brands all over Latin America. Merama’s now a unicorn, and Sujay also became a startup investor to share what he’s learned with other founders.In this episode, Sujay and I talk about:- How he discovered and leveraged e-commerce in Latin America;- How to prepare for an exit and deal with competitors from your startup’s early days;- And the most common advice Sujay gives founders as an investor.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, Latam!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Wanna win a free ticket to Vamos Latam Summit, and bring your friends along with a discount? Participate in our exclusive raffle for Latitud Podcast listeners! Click the following link and comment your favorite episode's title + tag two friends: https://bit.ly/latitud-podcast-vls-raffleConnections are really powerful — and even more so when we take the time to be together in real life. That’s why startups have adopted promoting their events as a brand and sales strategy. We’re no exception. I started promoting events at Viva Real, and now we’re taking that strategy to the next level at Latitud. Our next big thing is Vamos Latam Summit: we’re gathering the top startup founders and investors in the region so that they can learn and build relationships.4,000 people will be at VLS, on September 28th and 29th, in São Paulo. And you can win your ticket and even bring some of your friends with a discount. We’re doing an exclusive raffle for our podcast listeners. Click on the link in the description and learn how to join the raffle.Now, we don’t want to stop there. Founders have been sending us a lot of questions about how they can also make memorable events and leverage brand and sales with that. So Mariana Fonseca, Latitud’s Content Lead, and I gathered these questions and talked in this episode about:Why adopt the events strategy if you’re thinking of strengthening your brand and sales;How you can build events even on a tight budget;The top metric you should keep an eye on and how to produce results after your startup’s event.My name’s Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm! And see you at Vamos Latam Summit.Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Irit Epelbaum has managed product teams for more than a decade. From San Francisco to São Paulo, she's worked in companies like Trulia, Peixe Urbano, and VivaReal. Now, Irit makes use of that experience to coach founders on the best practices of product management. She's both the product operating partner at Atlantico and an independent product management coach.In this episode, Irit and I talk about:- The best practices on product management for startups before they reach product-market fit;- When to hire a product manager and how to structure the product team;- How AI is going to affect product management, and why your product might not be working as well as you expected.My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Manoela Mitchell went from investor to founder because she wanted to crack one of Brazil's most challenging markets: healthcare. She's now the co-founder and CEO of Pipo Saúde, a startup that currently has 100,000 lives under management.Pipo Saúde's growth is a lesson on focus and efficiency, ranging from sales and fundraising to culture and diversity. In this episode, Manoela and I talk about:- What she learned from going from investor to founder;- How to discover your ideal customer profile;- And how to fundraise and innovate in the most efficient way. My name's Brian Requarth and this is the Latitud Podcast. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop

Latitud Podcast has been going strong for three years, and we’ve finally reached episode #150. So we decided to take a trip down memory lane and revisit some stories about how to survive through difficult times. These difficult moments can appear in your upbringing, in your startup’s ups and downs, in the market as a whole, or in your own limitations.Whatever your tough moment of the day is, we have a founder or investor who went through something similar. We’ll remember the challenges that entrepreneurs at the startups 99, Buser, and Loggi faced. We’ll also share deep reflections we had with investors at Atlantico, Cracks Fund, Ganas Ventures, and General Atlantic.We hope that these lessons will inspire you to keep pushing forward on your journey to make an impact in Latin America. Vamos, LatAm!Building good sh*t in Latin America? Learn about how Latitud can help you at latitud.com Discover and pitch Latitud Ventures, your partner from 0 to 1 and beyond Sign up for our weekly newsletter for founder insights and some tough love And follow us on Linkedin / Instagram / Spotify to stay in the loop